Amen. And Goodnight. (Noah Writes)

This post was written by Noah. The pictures were taken at Meagan’s parent’s home.

So my day started like it normally does.

I got up early . . .

and made sure Bear got his breakfast.

l was watched very carefully by Gracie who takes a great interest in me whenever I sit in my high chair.  She wants me to believe that she hangs out with me just because I such an amazing kid but even at eighteen months old, I’m smart enough to know her love has a price tag attached—namely, food.

I drop food for her. She gives me love. We’ve got a good thing goin’ on.

Once I’d finished my breakfast, I threw on some clothes (and a fresh diaper) and sat down to go over the day’s plans with Gracie.

And there were definitely a lot of plans to go over, especially since my Aunt Sarah (who is my daddy’s sister) is visiting us this week, along with her mommy and daddy who are also called Grandma and Grandpa Smith and just happen to be the mommy and daddy of my daddy.  

It’s a complicated business.

The three of them were all agog over the birth of The Little Sis and I tried my best to humor them.

After most of the morning had passed, it was announced that it was time to head to the hospital to pick up the New Human Being (AKA  Little Sis) and bring her home.

Can you tell I am excited?

I have heard a few rumors that Baby Sisters can be a little bit loud and also, occasionally, cranky. Since I am a man who believes in planning ahead, I figured it would be a good idea to catch a little nap on the way to the hospital so that I would be rested and refreshed and ready to carry out my important Big Brother Duties.

When we finally arrived at the hospital, I made sure to stand right by my mom in case she needed anything. I could tell that I was going to be busy taking care of her and the baby.

At one point, I had to leave Mom’s side for just a quick moment to check on Madison who was producing impressively loud sounds for such a little ol’ thing.

I tried calming her down by telling her, “Big Brother is watching you.” 

But somehow that didn’t sound quite right to me so I just changed it to say that I was taking good care of her and everything going to be just fine. That seemed to do the trick.

The next thing on the family agenda was to get everyone moved from the hospital room down to the cars. The nurse said she would take care of pushing mommy in her wheelchair which was good because I saw that Dad was struggling with carrying that big, heavy baby all by himself. I ran over and offered him a little manly man help. 

Of course, Bear was there, too. Bear and I are an efficient Baby Care Team.

What do you think?  Am I doing pretty good as a big brother so far?

When we all got down to the lobby, we men went and pulled the car around to the front of the hospital. While the ladies were waiting on us, they posed for a picture.

That’s a good-lookin’ gaggle of gals, if I do say so myself. 

And this lady? This lady here? She is one fabulous mama. Trust me on that.

The nurse did the big hand-off to Dad . . .

. . .and then it was time for the official procession to the car.

I was very diligently overseeing the whole process from my car seat. (If you look carefully, you can see just the top of my head in the back seat.)

Here was the view from my vantage point.

When we arrived home, we posed for an official Arriving Home Picture.  (I have already learned that Grandma Smith is all about taking pictures. Good thing I am so photogenic.)

After we got all settled in, Aunt Sarah held Madison for a few minutes. She’s never had a niece before so she is one happy auntie.

And then it was time for me to pull up a chair and start to learn all about the various vagaries of big brotherhood.

The first thing I discovered was where Little Sister gets her food.

Who knew?

A few minutes into sissy’s meal, Daddy came over to check on us all. He’s such a good daddy.

He always calls me, “Little Buddy” which I think is daddy code for “I love you.”

I told Mom I could sit right next to her if she needed me to help with anything and she said that would be great.

Honestly? I don’t know how in the world she ever took care of me when I was a baby since she didn’t have a little boy around to assist her.

Later on, mom put a hair bow on Madison which made all the women in the house go bonkers. What is it about women and hair bows?

Madison, even though I will never understand all that hair bow and pink ruffle stuff, I do hope that you know that you have a big brother who will take care of you and watch out for you forever—just like our daddy with his little sister.

Thank you, Jesus, for my little sister. I love her very, very much. Amen. 

And goodnight.